Sophie Lamparter presenting. |
I decided to attend the art symposium for my first event blog and
was fortunate enough to hear two presentations by Sophie Lamparter and Dr.
Olivia Osborne. Both of these lecturers
embodied the practice of combining art and science in their presentations, and I
was extremely impressed by the ingenuity that their projects involved. I think that by attending this symposium, I was
able to grasp the seemingly abstract idea that art and science are connected by
seeing the real-life examples that they had created in their research.
Dr. Olivia Osborne and I outside of the symposium. |
In Sophie Lamparter’s presentation, she mentioned a project that
really caught my attention because of its futuristic nature. She introduced a project that her company is
working on called the “Science Communication Project” where they are building
two greenhouses side by side and creating a unique and separate type of
environment within each of them. The contents
of one greenhouse will represent how plants are growing now, and the contents
of the other greenhouse will represent how plants will grow in 2058. This project is hoping to bring to light the
extreme environmental issues that we are likely to encounter in the near future
unless we severely change our behaviors as a human race. I thought this was an incredible example of
topics we have recently covered in class because it takes the science factor to
predict the conditions in 2058 and how plants will be growing, but also turns
it into an interactive exhibit where people will be able to walk through and
experience the difference themselves. This
sort of staging is definitely characteristic of the artistic field, but in this
circumstance, it is aiding these scientists to spread awareness to the population
about the reality of climate change.
A painting from Dr. Osborne's "Cry Me a River California" series. |
In Olivia Osborne’s lecture, I found that it tied in nicely with
Lamparter’s remarks because she spoke a lot about the importance of using art
as a vessel for scientific information.
Dr. Osborne related this to her piece named “Cry Me a River, California”
which were a series of water color paintings done on canvas that were designed
to reference the drought occurring in California. She used her talents in painting to create a
piece that begged the question, “If art can trap water, why can’t we?” She strategically used her artwork to spread
awareness about the drought to a group of people who were not involved with the
field of science. My favorite part about
her presentation was when she said that many people are intimidated by science
because we, in general, have a lack of curiosity. I completely agreed with her that scientists
can use art as a tool to present their ideas to the general population in a less
intimidating manner. This might inspire
a new wave of people to overcome their fear and contribute new ideas and solutions
to our worlds’ problems. I would highly recommend
attending the art symposium, because if the rest of the speakers were as
engaging as Lamparter and Osborne, I can guarantee you will learn something
extremely valuable in terms of this class, but also your life.
References
Osborne, Olivia. Cry Me a River California. 2014. The California Drought Series. Olivia Osborne Art. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.
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